Canada, France open consulates in Nuuk

Canada and France are opening new consulates in Greenland‘s capital Nuuk on Friday, signaling support for Denmark and the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland as it faces repeated and aggressive threats from the US.

Greenland has been in the headlines for months and was most recently the subject of emergency negotiations on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, after US President Donald Trump used his WEF address to hammer home his demand that the US be given control of Greenland, which he called a national security priority.

Trump has repeatedly mused about purchasing Greenland or taking it by force, spooking EU and NATO allies with his cavalier view of territorial integrity and self-determination.

“In a sense, it’s a victory for Greenlanders to see two allies opening diplomatic representations in Nuuk,” Jeppe Strandsbjerg, a political scientist at the University of Greenland, told the AFP news agency.

“There is great appreciation for the support against what Trump has said.”

Canada shows support for Arctic neighbors

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand attended the opening of Ottawa’s consulate in Nuuk and is expected to meet with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt to discuss Arctic security cooperation later on Friday.

Ottawa initially announced that it would open its new Greenland consulate back in late 2024, after Trump was reelected president and in expectation of his return to the global stage. The new office is in a building shared with Iceland’s consulate.

“The consulate will offer consular services to Canadians in Greenland, as well as strengthen Canada-Greenland bilateral and commercial relations, grow people-to-people ties and mobility and enhance cooperation on Arctic governance and security,” Canada’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

France becomes first EU country to open consulate in Greenland

Paris said its foreign minister would visit France‘s new consulate — the first opened in Greenland by an EU member state — within the coming weeks.

“France reiterates its commitment to respecting the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” read a statement released Friday by the French Foreign Ministry.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to open a diplomatic representation on the island during a visit there last year. Macron pledged “solidarity” in the face of US expansionism after Trump ratcheted up his takeover rhetoric.

France named Jean-Noel Poirier, who recently served as ambassador to Vietnam and then to Libya, its new consul general. He arrived in Nuuk on Friday.

Speaking with AFP in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, Poirier said, “The first item on the agenda will be to listen to Greenlanders, to hear them, to let them explain in detail their position, and from our side to confirm to them our support, as much as they and the Danish side want.”

Trump still keen to possess Greenland despite massive pushback

Although Trump backed off his maximalist demands of Greenland ownership after agreeing to a “framework deal” with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Davos, his threats have spawned a new US-Denmark-Greenland working group tasked with addressing US security concerns in the Arctic.

Though both Denmark and Greenland say they are willing to further negotiate ways to bolster security in the region, they are adamant that sovereignty and territorial integrity are non-negotiable.

Greenland has maintained diplomatic ties with the EU since 1992, with the US since 2014 and Iceland since 2017.

The US reopened its Nuuk mission in 2020, while the European Commission opened an office on the island in 2024.

Edited by: Zac Crellin